2016 TBR Update #2

So it's been a (long) while since I've done one of these updates, but I'm going to try and do them on Mondays on a regular basis. Not only so you can stay up to date on my reading challenges, but also my TBR progress for the months.

So my January TBR has 11 official books. Out of those, I have completed 1 this week.

• The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (3/5 strawberries)

I have 10 left to read:

• A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
• Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead
• The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
• Winter by Marissa Meyer
• Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty
• Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius
• Castle in the Air - Diana Wynne Jones
• The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
• Girl on a Wire by Gwenda Bond

I have also read:

• Fruits Basket Vol. 10 by Natsuki Takaya (5/5 strawberries)
• Fruits Basket Vol. 11 by Natsuki Takaya (5/5 strawberries)
• Fruits Basket Vol. 12 by Natsuki Takaya (4/5 strawberries)
• Red River Vol. 3 by Chie Shinohara (3/5 strawberries)
• Red River Vol. 4 by Chie Shinohara (3/5 strawberries)

I am currently reading 3 books:

• A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
• Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead
• The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

I have caught up on 0 series, and I have started 1 new series/trilogies/duologies (Sea of Trolls Trilogy).

So I sort of failed in last year's all-year-round challenge, but this year I'm doing another one just because I can! And I'm doing the 2016 Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge. Click the link to see detailed rules, but essentially each month there are a set of keywords, and I have to choose a book that adheres to one of those keywords in the title. For me, I'm going to try and select more than one keyword, because I like a challenge..

This month's keywords are: 

Crowd, Girl, The, Bad, Soul, Soft

(Girl on a Wire; The Bad Beginning)

FEB: Veil, Kiss, Her, Break, Love, Stars

MAR: Game, Fire, Darkness, School, Like, Change

APR: Far, Life, Stay, One, War, Thorns

MAY: Cure, Trial, Family, Key, Thief, Bend

JUN: Moon, In, Only, Whisper, Sleep, Trap

JUL: Rose, Sun, Clock, Day, Angel, Unto

AUG: Prince, Boy, Glass, Heart, Lost, Now

SEP: Wind, Color, Touch, At, How, Sweet

OCT: Rock, Ghost, Fall, Away, Sky, Storm

NOV: Dream, Holiday, And, Of, Dawn, Beautiful

DEC: End, Promise, Everlasting, Ice, Snow, My

And because I feel like stressing myself out, I'm taking on a second reading challenge. The A-Z Reading Challenge. It's very simple: I have to read a book that begins with a letter from the alphabet, until I've gone through the entire alphabet! So this is my lineup!

A: Ann & Henry - Dawn Ius
B: Bad Beginning, The - Lemony Snicker
C: Castle in the Air - Diana Wynne Jones
D:
E:
F:
G: Girl on a Wire - Gwenda Bond
H: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling
I:
J:
K:
L: Lock & Mori - Heather W. Petty
M:
N:
O:
P:
Q:
R:
S: Sword of Summer, The - Rick Riordan
T:
U:
V:
W: Winter - Marissa Meyer
X:
Y:
Z:

Waiting on Wednesday: Traveler

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Traveler

(Seeker #2)

by Arwen Elys Dayton

Publication Date: January 6, 2016

From Goodreads:

Quin Kincaid is a Seeker. Her legacy is an honor, an ancient role passed down for generations. But what she learned on her Oath night changed her world forever.

Quin pledged her life to deception. Her legacy as a Seeker is not noble but savage. Her father, a killer. Her uncle, a liar. Her mother, a casualty. And the boy she once loved is out for vengeance, with her family in his sights.

Yet Quin is not alone. Shinobu, her oldest companion, might now be the only person she can trust. The only one who wants answers as desperately as she does.

But the deeper they dig into the past, the darker things become. There are long-vanished Seeker families, shadowy alliances, and something else: a sinister plan begun generations ago, with the power to destroy them all.

The past is close. And it will destroy them all.

Why I'm Excited

- I had mixed feelings about Seeker; quite a few complaints and problems. But I am still very curious to see what happens next!

Top 10 2016 Bookish Resolutions

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 

This week's topic: Top 10 2016 Bookish Resolutions. You know, I've never been one for setting goals. To be honest - and I am so not lying or trying to sound better than everyone else - I've never needed goals. They kind of get in the way of my accomplishing anything. As soon as I set a goal - well, I'm not doing whatever it is I'm doing because I want to. I'm doing it for a new reason that just sucks out all of my motivation. So "resolutions" aren't really my thing. That being said, I went ahead and made some this year. ;-)

1. READ! I was doing really well in 2015, but then something happened - my love for reading kind of. . . .disappeared. I mean, it was still there, but I wasn't quite so enthusiastic about it. To be honest, I wouldn't have succeeded with my Goodreads reading challenge if I hadn't started reading so much manga. So! In 2016, I'm gonna get my reading mojo back!
2. Buy less, read more! I own so, so, so many books I haven't read yet. And I keep buying more books! So! In 2016, I'm going to read the books I already have and buy fewer.
3. Finish those series! I also have a lot of series going that I need to finish - like now. So! In 2016, I'm gonna tackle those series!
4. Do more reading challenges! Reading challenges don't have to be stressful, and I actually do have fun doing the year-long ones. So! In 2016, I'm going to do a few more reading challenges!  Currently, I'm doing 3!
5. Get to some of those books that have been on my TBR forEVER! We all have them. Books I really do want to read. . . .but somehow we never get around to reading them. I'm guilty of doing this with more popular books. When they come out, I intend to read them. But they just slip by and eventually they reach a popularity status where it really isn't necessary for me to read them cuz everyone and their grandmother has.
6. Smaller TBRs! I'm famous for giving myself more to do in a month than I can realistically accomplish. I am hoping that with balance being restored to my previously hectic and topsy-turvy life, I'll be able to read a LOT more than I did last year. But still - I need to create realistic TBRs for my busy life so I don't get stressed.
7. Booktubing! Part of the reason I've been absent from my channel is because of my *expletive* camera. If it didn't still take good pictures, I would throw it against a wall. I am so done trying to get it to take video. Thankfully, one of my friends is loaning me her video recorder for a very extended period of time (essentially, until I can afford one of my own).
8. Read what I want! I'm one of those people that doesn't DNF books. Once I start one, I'm committed. But life is short and there's so much to read; why waste time on a book I won't like?
9. Pay attention to them ARCs! Poor ARCs; they get neglected so often. Which is really bad of me. I'm a reviewer; ARCs should take priority.
10. Have fun! Maybe this is a copout resolution. But somewhere along the line of 2015, I forgot the reason why I started my blog in the first place. Some of you know that I had to take a break during the summer to reassess my blogging purpose, but throughout the chaos of fall, I sort of lost sight of my reasons again. Reading, blogging - none of it was supposed to feel like a chore or a job. I need to remember that I do this because I love books. That has always been my reason and it always should be. :-)

2016 TBR Update #1

So it's been a (long) while since I've done one of these updates, but I'm going to try and do them on Mondays on a regular basis. Not only so you can stay up to date on my reading challenges, but also my TBR progress for the months.

So my January TBR has 9 official books. Out of those, I have completed 0 this week.

• 
  

I have 11 left to read:

• A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
• Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead
• The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
• Winter by Marissa Meyer
• Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty
• Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius
• Castle in the Air - Diana Wynne Jones
• The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
• The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
• Girl on a Wire by Gwenda Bond

I have also read:

• Red River Vol. 2 by Chie Shinohara (4/5 strawberries)

I am currently reading 4 books:

• A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
• Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead
• The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
• The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

I have caught up on 0 series, and I have started 0 new series/trilogies/duologies.

So I sort of failed in last year's all-year-round challenge, but this year I'm doing another one just because I can! And I'm doing the 2016 Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge. Click the link to see detailed rules, but essentially each month there are a set of keywords, and I have to choose a book that adheres to one of those keywords in the title. For me, I'm going to try and select more than one keyword, because I like a challenge..

This month's keywords are: 

Crowd, Girl, The, Bad, Soul, Soft

(Girl on a Wire; The Bad Beginning)

FEB: Veil, Kiss, Her, Break, Love, Stars

MAR: Game, Fire, Darkness, School, Like, Change

APR: Far, Life, Stay, One, War, Thorns

MAY: Cure, Trial, Family, Key, Thief, Bend

JUN: Moon, In, Only, Whisper, Sleep, Trap

JUL: Rose, Sun, Clock, Day, Angel, Unto

AUG: Prince, Boy, Glass, Heart, Lost, Now

SEP: Wind, Color, Touch, At, How, Sweet

OCT: Rock, Ghost, Fall, Away, Sky, Storm

NOV: Dream, Holiday, And, Of, Dawn, Beautiful

DEC: End, Promise, Everlasting, Ice, Snow, My

And because I feel like stressing myself out, I'm taking on a second reading challenge. The A-Z Reading Challenge. It's very simple: I have to read a book that begins with a letter from the alphabet, until I've gone through the entire alphabet! So this is my lineup!

A: Ann & Henry - Dawn Ius
B: Bad Beginning, The - Lemony Snicker
C: Castle in the Air - Diana Wynne Jones
D:
E:
F:
G: Girl on a Wire - Gwenda Bond
H: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling
I:
J:
K:
L: Lock & Mori - Heather W. Petty
M:
N:
O:
P:
Q:
R:
S: Sword of Summer, The - Rick Riordan
T:
U:
V:
W: Winter - Marissa Meyer
X:
Y:
Z: